Shinno watched with wide eyes as the Eightfold Light Wheel drew closer and passed straight through his body.
In that instant, Shinno became Shin)(no.
But it didn't end there.
At the cross-section of his severed torso, countless tendrils writhed and twisted in the air, latching onto each other and forcibly pulling his upper body back together, stitching him whole once again.
Such an abnormal regenerative ability made Takeshi click his tongue in disbelief.
If this technique could be used by Might Guy, wouldn't that make him an even greater force when facing the Ōtsutsuki?
After all, Shinno hadn't practiced the Eight Gates for years. He relied purely on the natural quality of his body combined with the taijutsu recorded in the scrolls, and that alone was enough to suppress Takeshi's shadow clone.
If it had been Might Guy himself standing here—a man who had trained his body for decades—he probably wouldn't even need to open the Gate of Death to obliterate this shadow clone.
While Takeshi pondered this, the slug on his shoulder launched a second attack.
A torrent of corrosive acid drenched Shinno, producing the distinctive sizzling sound of flesh being eaten away.
"Damn brat!"
Feeling his energy rapidly draining, Shinno could no longer withstand the strain brought by the Eight Gates. Dropping to one knee, he deactivated them, watching helplessly as a layer of ice crystals encased his entire body.
"Seal!"
Strike while the enemy's down—kill them while they're weak.
Naturally, Takeshi wouldn't give Shinno the slightest chance to counterattack. He immediately cast a sealing technique, cutting off any possibility of a comeback before it could even sprout.
...
While the shadow clone battled Shinno, Takeshi's real body had been working overtime for several consecutive days.
The threat of the Ōtsutsuki was unlike that of Uchiha Madara. These were beings from beyond the stars. To use an analogy—if Madara was a beast, then the Ōtsutsuki were lumberjacks, and it would take the combined strength of every hero in the ninja world to hold them back.
This wasn't an exaggeration. When facing Isshiki's complete form, if not for his deteriorating vessel and the Nine-Tails' sacrifice, the ninja world would have already been annihilated.
"We should probably increase funding for the Research Division," Takeshi muttered.
At this point, the only path forward for the ninja world was to use "science" to defeat the enemy.
Of course, this so-called science wasn't exactly scientific.
Aside from major issues, there were still minor matters that required Takeshi's judgment.
For example—the two advisors who hadn't had a good night's sleep in over ten days.
"The two advisors are still around?"
Seeing how they'd rallied a group of old-timers from their generation, Takeshi sighed irritably.
"Those geezers—are they trying to challenge me to a duel?"
"Hard to say," Uchiha Hikari rolled her eyes. "Someone like you—arrogant, authoritarian, and annoyingly cryptic—should've been overthrown ages ago."
Aburame Tatsuma, who had come to deliver a report, stood frozen as Hikari mocked Takeshi right in front of him, saying nothing.
At that moment, he was trying to process the meaning behind Takeshi's earlier words.
"The two advisors are still around..." But... they had been around the whole time.
"Is everyone on the list under surveillance?"
After trading a few jabs with Hikari, Takeshi steered the conversation back on track.
"Correct. Most of them are retired jōnin from the village—some even from the Senju and Hyūga clans."
"Troublesome. The Senju clan's already nearly extinct, and now this nonsense might just finish them off..." Takeshi said with a look of feigned regret.
Aburame Tatsuma remained silent.
"Still," Takeshi continued, propping his chin on his hand, "in the end, the two advisors have always worked hard for the village. Their methods may have been extreme, but their intentions weren't malicious."
At that, Uchiha Hikari immediately protested.
Though she disliked members of the Uzumaki clan, Kushina had always treated her decently. Now that Karin had been bullied, Takeshi's attempt to forgive those two old fossils was something she could never accept.
"You—!"
"How about this," Takeshi interrupted sharply, sensing her rising fury. "Go check if the two advisors are still alive. Then decide what to do next."
Catching the shift in her killing intent, Takeshi quickly issued the order before she could lash out.
He then explained how to deal with the remaining loyalists.
"As for the ones who followed the two advisors—since their hearts are clearly with the Feudal Lord, send them all to the Daimyō's mansion. With such powerful enemies looming over us, someone has to protect the Daimyō's safety, right?"
"Yes."
Aburame Tatsuma nodded in understanding, then turned and left the room.
Before long, he was knocking on the door of the advisors' residence.
After days of stress and fear, the two old men no longer had the energy to panic. After all, as advisors, their lives should be safe—otherwise, who would dare serve Konoha again?
So, when the door knocked, they merely motioned for the Anbu guard outside to open it and lazily reclined in their chairs, assuming an air of detached dignity.
Upon seeing that the visitor was Aburame Tatsuma, the two advisors straightened up slightly.
"Oh, it's Tatsuma. So? Has the Fifth Hokage returned?"
"Yes. The Fifth sent me to check if you two were doing well," Tatsuma said plainly.
After speaking, he added nothing more and turned to leave.
"What kind of nonsense is that?" Mitokado Homura grumbled irritably. "What does he mean, 'to check if we're doing well'?"
Koharu Utatane said nothing, her face dark and grim.
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